Lawsuit no longer names trustee personally

DENVER — Attorneys for the Greeley Tribune are changing an aspect of the newspaper’s lawsuit against a Weld County official.

The Tribune is suing Public Trustee Mary Hergert in federal court, alleging she retaliated against the paper because she disagreed with its editorial content.

In February, members of the Tribune editorial board said the trustee’s office is obsolete and should be abolished.

In April, Hergert removed her office’s legal advertising to a competing paper, despite offers of a lower cost from the Tribune. The Tribune sued her in June in both her official and individual capacities, meaning the newspaper could pursue Hergert, and not just her office, for punitive damages.

On Tuesday, the Tribune decided to remove the part about suing Hergert personally.

Tribune Publisher Jim Elsberry said the paper sued Hergert individually because of Hergert’s own actions, which he believes hurt the paper. That element, he said, was causing delays in the case.

Recommended Stories For You

“It seemed to be getting in the way of getting to the heart of the matter,” which includes a claim that Hergert violated the First Amendment, Elsberry said.

Hergert’s lawyers argued that Hergert should be immune from punishment as an individual because, in 2005, there was no clearly established law that removing advertising for adverse editorials was wrong. That defense is called “qualified immunity.”

The Tribune’s dismissal of the individual claim against Hergert negates that defense, said Chris Beall, a Tribune attorney.

Beall, two other Tribune attorneys and an attorney representing Hergert sat before a magistrate in U.S. District Court in Denver for a brief hearing Tuesday morning.

Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer chastised Tribune attorneys for initially including the claim against Hergert individually, because it provided her an automatic, easy defense.

But he also granted the newspaper a small victory in denying Hergert’s request for a delay in the proceedings. Her lawyers had asked that she not be deposed until the judge decided whether she had immunity. But Shaffer denied that motion.

Hergert and some of her coworkers will likely be deposed in late September or early October. A deposition is the recording of a witness’ sworn testimony outside of court, so each side can obtain information about each other in preparation for trial. Some Tribune employees are also likely to be deposed.